Celebrating National Nurses Week, Celebrating You!

Trust. Without it, our careers and lives lose a solid foundation. Trust is certainly at the forefront of nursing. It’s apparent when patients seek medical care in their most vulnerable states, trusting nurses to ease their pain and help them recover. Nurses, too, must trust patients’ answers during clinical evaluations. And what more can any nurse do when a patient leaves his or her care than trust that the patient will continue the necessary self-care at home?

As you might’ve guessed, trust is the theme of this year’s National Nurses Week (May 6-12), chosen by the American Nurses Association. Patients trust nurses with their health and well-being—even with their lives—implicitly. It’s a heavy responsibility at times, but one that nurses shoulder with pride and little fanfare. It’s the least we can do to honor nurses once a year during Nurses Week!

When it comes to nursing, particularly nursing in minority communities, trust can play an especially significant role. African Americans, for example, may avoid participating in potentially beneficial clinical research due to lingering mistrust as investigated in this month’s cover story: The Barrier Between Minorities and Clinical Research. Nurses can help overcome that barrier by building trust with their patients and perhaps even the greater community. For those efforts, we thank you as well.

Finally, nestled inside Nurses Week is Student Nurses Day on Sunday, May 8. Give the nurses of tomorrow, still learning the ropes during their clinicals, still trying to figure out the hospital floor plan, a shout out! Don’t forget, they trust you, too.

So, without further ado, thank you, nurses. Thank you for creating a safe place for patients. For breaking down boundaries and building more healthy communities. For teaching future nurses as well as patients. For all that you do, thank you, sincerely.